Network Marketing Meets the Internet

Brad Crymes
Sep 5, 2014
3 min read

With certain limitations placed on what you can and cannot do in marketing direct sales companies, people may at times wonder how to build an online presence. Network marketing today looks entirely different from what it did when I first joined Herbalife as my first direct sales opportunity almost 20 years ago. The landscape has gone from receiving start-up kits in the mail that were sent via UPS to simply clicking a link the may read “Join now.” The internet has opened up so many more opportunities that weren’t available 20 years ago. Nonetheless, to keep from getting lost in the shuffle takes some knowing how to stand out in the crowd.

With the change in landscape and increased opportunities, also comes an abundance of people who are competing in the same space with the same programs and stories. Most direct sales companies now offer all of their consultants a website, so that they have a way to compete and get sales online.

However, depending on the type of product and the company, you may want to stay away from selling online. Consultants are discouraged from making sales through their website, and should only use the site for repeat customers (for convenience), at companies like Wild Tree. This is done by only offering a 5% commission on online sales while offering 25% on party sales. When the product is food, tasting is believing. This is an example of where the party planning approach is the best to use.

Most companies offer the same commission no matter how and where you sell the product, but may suggest to you that the party plan is the most effective way to sell their product. While this works fine for many folks, my thought has always been why limit yourself.

If you’re given a website to make online sales then put it to good use and diversify your marketing strategy. Having a website however, does add some extra work. The main thing to keep into consideration, is that you will need to get your website found by your potential customers.

Additionally, the websites or pages that normally come with your business kit, aren’t written so that they perform well for SEO purposes. And because you can’t make any changes to the site, it will be extremely difficult trying to get your page to rank. To alleviate this, it’s better to advertise your site or opportunity. There are various ways to do this online, including social media and paid advertising campaigns that can be found throughout the web.

More so, the best approach would be to create your own blog or website. By using a blog or a website you have control over the content, so you can optimize it for SEO purposes. Another benefit is that you can monetize it with ads or sponsored posts or affiliate links. Web Hosting is now cheap and there are many cost-effective ways to design a site. Furthermore a blog network like Blogjob would be a good route for those with limited budgets.

Combining a blog or website, along with social media is the most effective way to build an Internet presence. Write about your product, experiences with your direct sales company or anything related, to get some good content. Link your site with your social media profiles and keep them all consistent. Take it one step further and use email to market to prospects and you have winning combination. Who needs UPS when you have the power of the World Wide Web working for you?